Creating Community Connections!

HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative

The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) employs a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. The program helps communities transform neighborhoods by revitalizing distressed public and/or assisted housing and investing and leveraging investments in well-functioning services, high quality public schools and education programs, high quality early learning programs and services, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs. The CNI will ensure that current residents will be able to benefit from this transformation, by preserving affordable housing or providing residents with the choice to move to affordable and accessible housing in another existing neighborhood of opportunity.

The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) is focused on three core goals:

Housing: Transform distressed public and assisted housing into energy efficient, mixed-income housing that is physically and financially viable over the long-term;

People: Support positive outcomes for families who live in the target development and the surrounding neighborhood, particularly outcomes related to residents’ health, safety, employment, mobility, and education; and

Neighborhoods: Transform distressed, high-poverty neighborhoods into viable, mixed-income and sustainable neighborhoods with access to well-functioning services, high quality public schools and education programs, high quality early learning programs and services, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs.

To achieve these core goals, successful applicants are required to develop and implement a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy, or Transformation Plan. This plan will become the guiding document for the revitalization of the public and/or assisted housing units, while simultaneously directing the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood and positive outcomes for families. To successfully develop and implement the Transformation Plan, HACB will work with public and private agencies, community and philanthropic organizations, current Buena Vida residents, neighborhood residents, and other identified individuals and stakeholder groups to gather and leverage resources needed to support the strategic and financial sustainability of the plan.